Should DC Reboot the New 52?
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Many words have been spoken about DC Comics much rumored attempt to pull off the supposed “Band-Aid” off of the DC Universe. This metaphor is what sites like Bleeding Cool are using when referring to The New 52 apparently returning to the last reboot of the DC Universe. The line-wide reboot of The New 52 happened in 2011 when everything that was currently in-continuity started over from scratch in the new world of the DCU. The Future’s End September Issues installments mark the three-Year Anniversary for the publisher, who always does some sort of gimmick in the month of September that most of the line ends up tying into. This week/month, each of their titles are jumping five years into the future. Many fans are now feeling nostalgic for the days of yonder over the old version of the DC Universe, when the company finally starting to reveal subtle things about the Universe-- like the Justice League 3000 team actually being based on the characters from pre-52 world. DC has been teasing an upcoming event that is supposed to come after the recent Future’s End weekly series that is rumored to possibly feature some of that older continuity. The question that begs to be asked at this point is: Would going back to that folder really be the right thing for DC to do at this moment-in-time?
SHOULD DC REBOOT THE NEW 52?
With fans dreading the New 52 in its current inception very loudly across the internet, and with so many of the original titles launched in September 2011 already on their way to being canceled, the answer as to whether-or-not the Universe should be rebooted stills seems unclear. The upcoming Blood Moon title that was teased in the back of the New 52 titles in April, could really give fans a new perspective on what is coming; that is if it really does take a trip back to the old DCU. At the same time, it may end up making the DC continuity less interesting and special if the very thing that was gluing the New 52 together is broken in half. Unfortunately, many of the New 52 titles that were announced at the beginning of the New 52 have already been cancelled, which at this point makes the new name make even less sense. Still there is merit in keeping this continuity simplified. It also goes without saying that DC has spent much time and money promoting this work, therefore going back-- after three measly years-- from a line-wide reboot just because of sales would most likely be really polarizing to fans that started comics with this big launch.
Over the last couple of years that we have spent with the DCU, there have been a very large number of stories and events that have already set much of this world into motion. Knowing that and acknowledging that this new Universe built by DC has so much continuity at this point, it almost seems as if the New 52 isn't doing the greatest job of having a clear entry point for perspective comics’ fans to jump into these stories once again. At the same time, the world cannot be simply rebooted every couple of years ad nauseam, like the approach that Marvel has seemingly taken, even if it is seemingly working out for Marvel at this point. The issue is certainly divisive, but giving fans some time to spend with some of the different heroes and villains that they love in these worlds may be the thing to get fans invigorated in the DCU. A new Crisis could possibly get fans jazzed again about the upcoming stories of DCU.
DC Co-Publishers Jim Lee and Dan Didio teased that the upcoming Booster Gold Future’s End and Superman Doomed #2 Issues are both going to have major teases towards what is coming next in the upcoming shifts in the DCU that we can start to look out for after Future’s End starts to conclude.
At this point what these two issues will possibly contain is still a mystery, but the first inclination toward whatever the Blood Moon is is a likely candidate. On the other hand, the upcoming Darksied War and Crisis events are two other aspects of the DCU that have been relentlessly teased over the past couple of months. The biggest questions at this point are what exactly relates to each other, and how will these events sync up? Another huge question that will come from Future's End, that absolutely needs to be addressed at some point, is how the continuity of the event will be reset? With all of the heroes dying and not coming back to life in the Future's End Free Comic Book Day special, and the death of Green Arrow, who still has an ongoing title, the questions seems to grow even larger and larger. With the publisher casting such a wide net with a large number of titles, there needs to be a lot going on at every single moment at the publishing company, but a sense of unity for the upcoming stories at this point would likely still merit some positive feedback.
The biggest reason for why DC shouldn't reboot the Universe, is if only for the sake of not further confusing the fans. Even if fans miss the DC Universe of the past, this would further muddle the complicated history of the DCU that is rife with re-boots and retellings of several different origins and stories. On the other hand, embracing the past, and exploring the DCU of old with some new eyes for an upcoming event or two could be interesting. The material is just going to have to be tread extremely carefully as we continue to read the ongoing adventures of the men and women of DC Comics.
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